Director Profiles

Meet the people who are guiding CNO Financial Group as a leading provider of insurance products to middle-income working and retired Americans.

Ellyn L. Brown

Retired Principal of Brown & Associates

Director since 2012

Ellyn Brown joined CNO Financial Group's board of directors in May 2012. She serves as the chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee and is a member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee.

Until her retirement from full-time practice, Brown practiced corporate and securities law, most recently as principal of Brown & Associates, a boutique law and consulting firm based in the Baltimore area that provided operations, regulatory and governance services to financial services industry clients and other clients that operated in heavily regulated, high-scrutiny environments.

Brown served as a member of the board of directors of NYSE Euronext, Inc. (NYSE: NYX), and predecessor entities, from 2005 until the acquisition of NYX by the Intercontinental Exchange in 2013, and chaired the board of NYSE Regulation, Inc., the entity that oversaw market regulation at the NYSE and its affiliated exchanges. She has been a member of the board of Brinker Capital Destinations Trust since January 2017 and has previously served as a director of Walter Investment Management Corp. (NYSE:WAC).

Brown served as a governor of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) from 2007 to 2012, and, from 2007 to 2011, was a trustee of the Financial Accounting Foundation, the parent entity of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and its government counterpart, GASB.

Previously, Brown taught securities and business law at Villanova University and the University of Maryland, served as Maryland's Securities Commissioner and practiced securities law at a large private firm. She has served as a board member of several regulatory and professional organizations in the financial services arena, and a number of Maryland civic and educational institutions, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Brown holds an undergraduate degree from Vassar College, a master's degree in demography from the Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from the University of Maryland.